


the house don't fall when the bones are good

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Bones Are Good (AU) [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: AU in which I have given maddie a son and chimney a daughter, Established madney, F/M, Gen, Past Domestic Violence, and they have a super cute family, complications getting pregnant mentions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26390983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: Maddie ran to her brother with her eighteen month old son, leaving behind a life she’d rather forget. She’d never expected to fall in love with his colleague and his seven year old daughter.Now it’s over two years later and they’re happy, happier than she’s ever been and she loves their family so much but still, she longs to use that fourth bedroom she had insisted on.Milo and Sophia and Chimney are more than enough but... she can’t help but imagine another pair of feet running around their family home..AU where both Chimney and Maddie had children when she arrived in LA.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Bones Are Good (AU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918000
Comments: 13
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cbljlh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cbljlh/gifts).



Maddie watches as the nine-year-old girl and four-year-old boy run around the apartment, biting down on her lip as she glances at the laptop in front of her. Them moving out of Chimney’s two-bedroom apartment and into a house couldn’t come soon enough, especially when she hears a crash coming from the other room, followed by an “Oops!” from her son as she groans.

The rambunctious four-year-old had no sense of the words ‘be careful’ and it was made even worse by the fact they were cramped up in the apartment, even more so when Sophia was spending her week with them. They had a one week on, one week off schedule with Sophia’s mom and they both knew it wasn’t exactly fair to expect a nine year old going on eighteen year old girl to share a room with an annoying toddler who knew no concept of personal space, privacy or sharing. Which was exactly what led to her and Chimney sitting at the dining table, looking through houses, ignoring the two fighting in the other room.

“This one’s nice.” She glances through the pictures as he flicks through, her eyes settling on the description before she lets out a frustrated huff. Honestly, she had been dropping hints for months, some of them subtle (practically throwing Hen and Karen’s new foster baby in his arms and asking him how he feels) and some of then not-so-subtle (pointing out she wasn’t going to pick up her prescription of the monthly pill anymore). She’s tempted to just come out and say it but she’s hoping he’ll reach the conclusion on his own.

“It’s _three_ bedrooms.”

Chimney nods his head, “Yeah, me and you, Sophia and then Milo.”

Wow, he can be so dense sometimes, Maddie finally looks away from the laptop to just stare at him, “I want a fourth bedroom, Howard. Maybe five.”

“Wait, why would we need two extra bedrooms?”

She blinks, her mouth opening and then closing, as she shakes her head and tries to figure out whether her fiancé is being purposely clueless or if he really hasn’t understood a single hint she’s dropped out over the last few months. “Are you being serious?” She finally asks, “Like… really, truly serious? You don’t—”

It’s when the dopey expression on his face is replaced with a smirk that she finally reaches out to slap his shoulder, glaring at him as she shakes her head, “Asshole.”

“You love me.”

“Perhaps.”

“You want to have my babies.” He seems pretty pleased with himself, wiggling in his seat a little before he changes the filter to a minimum of four bedrooms as he lets out a laugh. There’s a massive grin on his face when she nudges her elbow into his side, her cheeks flushing red.

“Shut up.” It’s all she can think to say, practically snatching the laptop away from him as she huffs, continuing to scroll through the houses, practically feeling the satisfied smugness of Chimney radiating from next to her as she does everything she can to avoid looking at him.

Finally, his hand is on her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder, “Maybe we can get working on filling that fourth bedroom tonight.” It causes a shudder to run through her, biting down harshly on her bottom lip to stop herself from showing just how exciting she found those words before they hear another loud crash coming from the kids bedroom.

“Daddy, Maddie!! Milo broke my bed!”

They both give each other a look, before Maddie shifts a little in her seat to drop his hand from her waist, “You can go deal with that, I told him not to jump on the bed.” She laughs when he stands up, “Good luck.”

. 

Maddie smiles as she looks at Chimney, head resting on both her arms crossed over his chest as she rests on top of him, just admiring him for a moment. His hair is a mess, a sheen of sweat on his forehead and his chest is still rising and falling as though he’s just run a marathon as his hands tremble against her lower back when he pulls her impossibly closer to her.

It’s not as though she forgets the life she had once had, there were still times (although those were lessening) when it was all she could think about. When she would freeze, her chest would tighten as the panic set in and she would be transported back to Hershey, back to her world with Doug. She could never completely, truly forget any of it, especially not when she reminds herself that one day, when he’s old enough, Milo is going to have to find out the truth. So, it’s not that she _forgets_ , it’s just… Chimney is so good, that she finds it hard to remember how she once felt so unworthy of love, or how she had been left thinking she would never trust another man again or how she could never feel safe again.

She’s forever grateful to the fact she had run to her brother, even more so that he had managed to convince her to stay because she has no idea what her life could have been without the family she had found, and what an amazing family it was. The 118 had welcomed both her and Milo with open arms and her son spoke only of the fact he wanted to be a firefighter when he was older just like his daddy and his uncle Buck but most specifically, he wanted to be _Captain_ , just like Bobby. Sophia and her had been quick to form a bond and Maddie had found another family in the little girl and her mother and the even larger family that came with them. They had the Lees, too and the extended family that came with them, so their parties were large, loud and full of love. Such a contrast to the world she had once lived in where it was just her and Doug, and then eventually, her, Doug and Milo.

“What you thinking about?” Chimney finally breaks the silence in his room, fingers moving through her hair to brush it behind her ears as he tilts his chin towards his chest to look at her. Their eyes meet and Maddie grins at him, shifting a little so she can move further up his body, lifting her body up only slightly to press their lips together as she lets out a content sigh.

“You.” She finally answers when she pulls back, “Us, our family.”

He grins at her and it doesn’t matter how long it’s been, it still causes her heart to flutter in her chest as she just stares at him. Chimney was an open book, at times, if he didn’t speak the words, then his eyes would so often give him away. Even before he had told her that he loved her, she had felt it in the way he touched her, the way he spoke to her and about her, how he looked at her. “I know you’ve been a part of Milo’s life since he was eighteen months old but… I’m really excited to do the whole newborn thing with you.”

She loves Sophia just as much as Chimney loves Milo and nothing could ever change that; the nine year old was loved no less than her biological son but she also feels that excitement at the prospect of having a baby that’s both hers and Chimney’s. The perfect mixture of the two of them. Her first pregnancy and the subsequent baby stage of Milo’s life had been the hardest time in Maddie’s, after her husband had made it clear it wasn’t what he wanted. She had just been so terrified of being alone, not really realising she was doing it all alone anyway.

With Chimney, it would be different, she knows he’s going to dote on her throughout the pregnancy, that he would be up for the night feeds when he could, he would change diapers and he would raise their child with as much love and respect as he has Milo and Sophia.

He nods his head, “I’m excited, too.” She knows it wasn’t easy when Sophia was born, whilst her mother let him see the baby whenever he wanted for however long he wanted, it was just better for her to stay at home for those crucial few months, so he never truly felt as though he got the ‘full experience’. Plus, whilst Maddie wasn’t there, Sarah – Sophia’s mother – had told her that Chimney was always a little awkward to begin with. They’d had a one night stand but the other woman had never denied him any custodial rights to the little girl (thankfully) and the two of them got on so well now but Maddie knows that took time. “How long have you wanted this?”

Maddie thinks for a second, moving her hand from his chest to brush through his sweat soaked hair as she shrugs her shoulders, “For a while now.” She thinks about it, a blush creeping up onto her cheeks before she lets out a small laugh, “Didn’t you get the hints? I came off the pill months ago…”

Chimney lets out a laugh of his own, shaking his head, “I kind of thought you were hinting at it but then I thought no, Maddie would just come out and say it if she wanted a baby. I should have known when you cried when we went baby shopping for baby Charlie and you held up that little yellow onesie with the biggest puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen.”

Oh, Maddie had almost forgotten about that one, reminding herself to go back to the store to grab said onesie the moment she got pregnant if nature permits. “Yeah… but honestly, I’ve wanted this since the day I met you.”

She watches as Chimney ponders over it for just a second, until he nods his head and wraps both his arms around her, a smirk on his face as he easily switches their position before she can even register the movement. Her back hits the mattress as he lies on top of her, clearly extremely proud of himself as she giggles, his lips hovering over hers, “I can think of a few things I’ve wanted since the day I met you.”

The seductive tone of voice forces the giggles down as she raises a brow and tilts her head to the side, “Mmm, round two?”

“Oh, absolutely.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of infertility/hormone treatment

Maddie hates herself for it but she really wants to throw the negative pregnancy test at her boyfriend’s head because he has that forced smile on his face again and it’s not helping matters. Six months. Six long months of actively trying to have a baby and… nothing. Not a single positive pregnancy test in the midst of it all and they had been trying, really, really trying.

She chucks the test in the bin as she has done far too many times before, brushing past Chimney without so much as a second glance. She loves him, she loves him more than she ever thought possible, but his positivity is draining. Every single time, he stands there with a huge smile on his face that he refuses to let drop, as though if he shows that he’s disappointed she’s going to break. It was helpful the first few times but now it doesn’t make her feel any better when she’s the only one with tears in her eyes.

“Maddie, it’s only been six months.”

Only six months. It could be only six months if she were twenty-seven years old but she’s thirty-seven and it’s been four years (closer to five) since she had Milo and maybe there’s something wrong. She’s had a baby, Chimney has had a baby ten years ago but between them, in over two years of a relationship, they’ve never had a single scare. So, maybe, she thinks, something has changed, maybe she was simply too old or Doug had done some unknown damage that meant it was more difficult this time around or maybe even impossible. Maybe after years of running into burning buildings and being injured several times…

Every thought running through her head doesn’t exactly make sense but she needs a reason. Just one of those things or these things can take time or it’s only been this amount of time, isn’t helpful or what she needs to hear. It doesn’t help that for the most part, it’s only Chimney she can talk to. Sarah, Sophia’s mom knew that they wanted to try and Maddie had spoken to Hen and Karen a few times, knowing they had gone through all of this the year before. Have patience was everyone’s favourite thing to say, but Maddie was done being patient.

Patience was not a virtue she had ever been gifted with, anyway.

She supposes Chimney knows he’d said the wrong thing by the sound of their bedroom door slamming behind her, blocking him out for all of ten seconds before he swings it back open, “You’re going to wake our son up.” His cheeks are flushed red, glare settling on her when he hisses the words out. He exaggerates his movements in closing the door as slowly and quietly as he possibly can, causing her to roll her eyes when she jumps in the bed and throws the covers over her head.

“Want to go see a doctor.” She mumbles when she can feel him getting in the bed next to her, forcing him to sigh when he pops his head beneath the covers, too.

“Then we will go see a doctor.”

“I mean it.”

“I’ll book an appointment in the morning.”

Maddie opens her eyes to look at him, a pout on her lips, until she moves her hand to gently trace his jawline, “What if I’m too old? Or too damaged? Will you still love me if there’s something wrong with me?”

“Will you still love me if I’m the reason we can’t have kids?” Maddie gulps as she tries to stop the tears from falling before she nods her head as soon as he poses the question, mildly offended that he would even ask before he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her towards him. “Then you already know my answer, don’t you? I’ll love you always, no matter what. Look at Hen and Karen, they’re so happy now with Denny and their three foster babies at the moment… there’s lots of different ways to have a family, Maddie. And I know you hate it when I say this but it really has only been six months.”

“Love you.” It’s easy to find her own arms wrapping around him and her face snuggling into his chest, closing her eyes when the exhaustion hits.

“I love you, too, even when you are slamming doors in my face.”

.

Maddie lets out a sigh when she looks at the medication bottle the moment she opens the bathroom cabinet. It’s been another four weeks since she had told Chimney she wanted – no, needed – to see a doctor to make sure there was a reason beyond stress why they hadn’t gotten pregnant yet. The doctor had been honest and told them how simply put, six months was not a concerning amount of time for any couple. But… considering her advanced age (that still makes her want to cry or shout, she’s not sure which one), there were options.

As it turned out there was some scar tissue that could (or could not, they couldn’t quite determine) be impacting her fertility. She wasn’t producing as many eggs as they would expect someone of her age to be. She can remember how she had tried to pull her hand from Chimney’s at the news that there was something not right with her, but his hand had held steady, a stern look in his face when he glanced at her. And she knew that Chimney would never blame her for something so far out of her control but sometimes it was easy to forget that she didn’t have to be quite so on edge and she didn’t have to bear the weight of the world only on her shoulders.

“Mommy!” The sound of her four-year-old son pulls her from her thoughts, quickly shutting the cabinet door before she turns towards him. It’s Chimney she sees first, the man leaning up against the edge of the door with a small frown on his face and a look of concern in his eyes before she opens her arms for Milo. He’s enough, he and Sophia are more than enough but it’s hard to shake the idea of doing it all with Chimney. It plays in her mind all the time – how loving he’d be towards her throughout the pregnancy, the excitement, the anticipation of meeting their new daughter or son, bringing another child into their little family. She thinks about it far too often when she looks at Sophia and sees Chimney’s eyes or when Milo calls Chimney ‘daddy’.

“When did you two get home?”

“About ten minutes ago.” Chimney answers before Milo can, the frown deepening on his face when he realises Maddie hadn’t even heard them walk in, which, with the very loud child storming through the house seemed completely impossible. “You seemed pretty lost in your own head there.”

“Just thinking—”

“About…” He looks down at the little boy who has his little arms wrapped tightly around his mother’s neck, snuggling into her as she lifts him up, legs wrapping around her waist when she holds him as close as she possibly can. He’s getting a little too big for it but she wants to carry him around for as long as she can. Chimney’s lips press to her cheek the moment she stands up straight, lingering as his hand moves to Milo’s curly hair.

Maddie only nods her head, glad neither of them had ever mentioned the possibility of a little brother or sister to either Milo or Sophia and not planning on doing so until she’s out of the first trimester… if her body permits. She grins when the little boy pulls back just enough to press both of his hands to either side of her face, “Mommy sad?”

“No, no, baby… mommy’s not sad. How can mommy be sad when she has her two favourite boys in the whole world with her?” He seems satisfied at the answer, his big, brown eyes looking into hers before he smiles, pressing a sloppy kiss to her chin before he snuggles back into her. It seems silly to even think, so she’s never said it out loud because she knows that Chimney isn’t his biological dad but a lot of the time, she really does see the older man in him. The kindness, the level of care he shows at such a young age, especially to her and Sophia (Maddie still remembers the time she had cried when Milo had cried for Sophia when she had sprained her wrist the year before) and the pure love he displays every single day. He’s nothing like his biological father and everything like the man who had raised him and it fills her with so much joy.

“Milo was wondering if we could all go to the movie theatre tonight, Sarah said it’s fine to pick up Sophia on the way, although Alex has asked if he can come too.” Maddie laughs, knowing that sometimes Sophia’s siblings get more than a little jealous when they steal her away for ‘special’ trips out.

“Tell Sarah that we can take Max, too.” She shrugs, not wanting to voice it out loud but maybe having the four kids will give them a little taste of what life could be. Max was just a few months older than Milo was, and the two boys always got along, even though they were typical boys who thought wrestling was the be all and end all of everything.

“Brilliant,” Chimney’s smile is wide, nudging his nose to hers as she lets Milo slide down her body when he starts to wiggle in her arms. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“Love you both more!” Milo chimes in, tilting his head up as he looks between the two of them, pulling on each of their hands, “Can we get candy?”

It’s Chimney who grabs him, “Oh, I see how it is!” He laughs, as he tickles his sides before he throws him over his shoulder and Maddie just laughs, rolling her eyes at the two. Milo’s laughter is everything, even more so when she thinks of the life he could have had, so grateful that he will never really remember a single moment of the time in this world he had spent before Chimney came into their lives.

Her eyes linger on the two as Chimney walks out, playing with Milo as he pretends he can’t see him, the young boy hanging upside down from his back as he grips onto his ankles and she realises, not for the first time, that she’s happy and it’s enough but… somehow, as her hand presses to her stomach, she wants more and she hates herself for it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chimney talks to Sophia's mom about their struggle getting pregnant.

Maddie has been a _nightmare_.

And he means that in the nicest way possible, but really, it’s the only way he can think to describe her and he hates himself for it. But, between the scheduled sex, the tears every time there’s a negative test plus the, at times, terrifying side effects of the hormone treatment, he feels as though he’s constantly living on edge. And he knows it’s not just him that’s picked up on it but Sophia and Milo haven’t been spared what he likes to call ‘hurricane Maddie’.

Chimney takes a breath as he looks at the woman sitting across from him, chewing a little too aggressively on the gum in his mouth before he pulls the coffee mug a little closer to him. Is this wrong? To be discussing his current girlfriends struggling getting pregnant with the woman he had a one night stand with and ended up having a beautiful daughter with ten years previously? Maybe it’s wrong on some level but she’s his family. The two of them have never had a romantic relationship but they had a firm friendship that people on the outside often admired and seemed shocked by.

Sarah was… easy to get along with. A fellow firefighter at a different station who he had met after a particularly terrifying earthquake over ten years ago. It was a one night stand, one they had laughed about afterwards but then they had Sophia from it and neither of them could ever bring themselves to regret someone so perfect. Chimney knows how different it could have been or how difficult she could have made it for him but from the beginning she had wanted him involved. Even when he was awkward and unsure, she had made him feel comfortable and wanted… needed. Even when she had met Simon and fell in love, they had forged a family of their own that constantly got added to between the three children that followed on her side and then Maddie and Milo on his.

There was never any bitterness or difficulties, they had a very large, very crazy family that made sure Sophia felt loved and wanted from all sides. He was reminded every single time when he looked at his daughter how grateful he was to have so many amazing people standing with him. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or are we going to sit here in silence?”

He smiles when the brunette gently jokes with him, a grin on her face as she does before he takes a breath, “Maddie and I have been trying for a baby for a while…” She already knows that but he needs to get all of the words whirring through his head out, he needs to discuss it with someone, “and I guess it’s been over a year now and she’s been on hormones for nearly half of that time and I just—it’s not that I want to give up, that’s not it but I just wish that maybe she didn’t want it so much?” He frowns at his own words, looking down at the liquid inside the mug instead of into the eyes of the other woman, almost afraid he’ll see disappointment in them, “I know that sounds incredibly selfish but it’s not for me—I can handle all the shouting and the tears and… I love her. Whatever she’s going through, I’m going to be there for her no matter what but she’s just hurting so much, Sarah.”

He takes a breath, hands shaking as he forces the tears back, “She cries herself to sleep every single time she gets her period or she takes another test and I know—I know how she feels, it’s not like I don’t want a baby with her but—it means so much to her and there’s nothing I can do. Nothing I say is right, I can’t do anything other than have sex with her whenever she tells me to—”

Sarah scoffs at that one, giving him a ‘oh, woe is you’ look as she does and he can understand that, he really can because what person wouldn’t want to have sex with the person they loved? “I just feel helpless. “

That’s the keyword, the true representation of how he feels about the entire situation. He can’t change how Maddie is feeling, only one thing can and he can’t do anything more than what he is doing and they have to accept that maybe it’s not going to happen for them. But there are other ways to have a family, ways that Maddie isn’t ready to hear about just yet.

“All you can do is carry on doing exactly what you’re doing now, Chimney.” The other woman smiles at him, shaking her head as she does, “You both love each other so much and none of us know what the future holds but whatever is meant to be will be, you know that. You believe in fate just as much as I do and as patient as Maddie is going to have to be for something that might not happen, you’re going to have be patient with her.”

He knows she’s right, but it doesn’t stop the way his shoulders slump and he frowns at his friend, the mother of his child, “I just think we want it too much. I can’t sleep sometimes just thinking about having another person running around the house and I know how much it means to her to experience the pregnancy and the new-born stage with me. I-I don’t know the ins and outs of it all, you know she doesn’t talk about that much but I just… it wasn’t good and it wasn’t easy. I think she has this idea in her head of being pregnant and happy and loved… safe, feelings she never had before and I want to give it to her so badly but I—I just feel like I’m watching from the side line sometimes.”

“Listen, you and Maddie will have another child. Maybe she’ll get pregnant and you’ll both get to experience that… maybe you’ll adopt or foster or use a surrogate or—there’s so many different ways to extend your family. But you’ll have it, one day… you’ll have it because you both want it so much and you deserve it.”

“Y-you and Maddie are having a baby?” Chimney can’t help but wince when he hears the all too familiar voice of his ten year old daughter from behind him, staring at her mother with a desperate look in his eyes that only causes her to roll her eyes when she opens her arms for the young girl.

He stays silent for a few moments before he sighs, watching as Sophia settles into her mother’s lap and looks at him with those brown eyes that remind him so much of his mother’s and in turn, his own. “No, not right now… we are hoping to one day, but Maddie isn’t pregnant. Not right now.” He’s surprised to see the sadness in her eyes and the disappointment when she pouts before she slowly nods her head.

“Soon?”

“I don’t know, Sophia, I really don’t know.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chimney has to give Maddie some tough love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of a miscarriage. Not graphic or detailed.

It may as well be a slap in the face to both of them from the very second the doctor utters the news to them. Maddie can remember how happy they had been barely nine days before, finally holding that positive pregnancy test in her hand with the biggest grin on her face. She had just assumed after how hard they had tried, after waiting over a year to finally see those two lines, that everything would be fine. She felt as though the universe actually owed her something good.

She doesn’t know how long she’s been curled up in their bed, ignoring the sound of the door opening and closing as Chimney walks in and out of their room, ignoring the sound of Milo asking why he can’t see his mommy. She loves him, she loves her son more than she could ever put into words but she can’t stop herself from feeling bitter when she remembers how _easy_ it was to get pregnant with him. How she and Doug hadn’t even been trying, she had just been so sick after a night of hell with him that she hadn’t been able to take the pill she had been taking behind his back for years. Just once. That was enough.

“Maddie, are you ready to talk yet?”

His voice is so soft, so calm and she has to remind herself that she’s not the only one hurting. He’s lost their baby, too. He had been so excited, the way he had wrapped his arms tight around her with a laugh as she held three pregnancy tests in her hands would be forever burnt in her mind. What had they done so wrong that meant they couldn’t have a baby of their own? She knows she should answer him, that she hasn’t actually spoken a single word since they drove home from the hospital. It feels as though she’s punishing him for something that isn’t his fault but the reality is that she is exhausted. It feels as though they are fighting a battle that already been lost.

Maddie feels the bed dipping next to her, indicating that he’s sat down, and then feels his hand on her leg above the blanket. She can’t bring herself to flinch away, telling herself that he needs comfort, too, even if she can’t offer it to him. “Maddie, it’s been three days…”

She can’t even bring herself to snap at him, wanting to inform him that she didn’t realise there was a time limit on grief. Instead, she just curls up into a tighter ball and shakes her head. “Okay, tough love it is,” She hears the way he groans, and although she isn’t looking at him, she can just imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose with a frown on his face because he _hates_ ever having to be stern with either her or the kids. “you have to get out of bed, you have to be a mom to the kids we do have, Maddie. Milo has been asking for you, Sophia has had to stay at her mom’s this week even though it’s meant to be _our_ week and you haven’t moved since we got home.”

The tears sting her eyes, her grip tightening on the pillow beneath her head, “Okay, I’ve had enough.” She gasps when he yanks the blanket from on top of her, until she finds herself being thrown over his shoulder with barely a second to register a single movement. “I love you but you stink and you’ve not eaten in days, so you’re going to get in the bath that I have just run for you, you’re going to eat the spaghetti I just cooked with our son and then you’re going to cuddle on the couch with the two of us.”

“Chim—” She whispers, the second her feet hit the ground and he pauses for just a second to look at her, propping her up with his arms wrapped around her. “I-I don’t think I can do this again.”

“Then we stop, if we need a minute, Maddie… if we need forever, whatever you want or need. Just say the word and I am on board.”

She can’t help but wonder how she got so lucky to be with someone like him, someone so understanding and kind. “I think I want to take a minute, I’m so tired.” They’ve been trying for over a year and she knows that it’s impacting every single person in the house. Milo needs her, Maddie knows that Sophia has been avoiding her since Sarah announced she was pregnant again and things have been awkward with Chimney for months.

Maddie finds herself leaning against him as he moves to pull her pyjama bottoms down, hiding her face on his shoulder when the tears fall. “I’m sorry, please don’t leave me.”

“What? Maddie—no, god no. Never.” A whimper falls from her lips the second he steps back enough to take her face in both of his hands, a determined look on his face despite the tears she can see him holding back in his own eyes, “I want this, too but—I think a break is a good idea, see how we feel in a few months. I think we need some time to focus on the family we have now, okay?”

“O-okay.” Her hand grips at his shirt, “You’re not leaving even though I was awful to you?”

“It’s okay to be sad, Maddie.” Chimney’s lips move to her forehead, fingers brushing through her greasy, messy hair before he pulls her top over her head. “It’s _not_ okay to smell as bad as you do right now. But I still love you.”

Her hands tug on his shirt once more, hoping he will get the hint without her having to actually say a word, when he starts to strip, she knows that he knows exactly what she wants and needs from him right then. And for once, as it so often has been since they started trying for a baby, it’s not sex. “I love you too.” She grips onto his shoulder for support when she steps into the warmth of the bath, slowly sitting down, bringing her knees to her chest to save enough room for Chimney behind her. It’s an immediate relief the second her back presses to his chest, leaning back as she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

“It’s okay for you to be sad, too, you know.”

His hands gently rub over her back, running the water over her skin before his chin rests on her shoulder, “I know and I am but then I look at Milo and Sophia and I know how lucky we are, some people don’t get to have two and I know they’re not _ours_ but they are. In every single way that matters, we have two amazing children who love us and who we love. And we’re not giving up, Maddie, we’re just saying not right now. We have some healing to do and that’s okay, it’s okay to admit we need some time. It’s been fifteen months.”

She smiles for the first time in days, nodding her head in agreement, “We are lucky. I’m so—”

“If you’re about to apologise, please don’t.”

She was, but she bites down on her lip and thinks for a second, “I’m so… happy to have you?” Her head tilts back as his does, pressing her lips to his bearded chin, knowing he’d let it grow out in his few days off work since the miscarriage. “Can we watch Hamilton?”

“That’s a three hour—yes, but I don’t think Milo is going to be too happy about that.”

“Do you think Sarah will drop Sophia off? Sophia likes Hamilton.” His arms wrap around her to pull her closer to him, nodding his head as he does.

“I’ll text her as soon as we’re out the bath.” It’s with a content sigh that she closes her eyes, feeling him run the wash cloth he reaches for over her body, listening to the way he gently hums, causing his chest to vibrate against her own body. It feels good, being close to him feels good and deciding to take a minute to breathe feels good. She feels happy, or at least something close to happy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for their annual family camping trip and Maddie admits to Sophia's mom that she wants to try again. 
> 
> Brief mentions of a past miscarriage.

Maddie had been determined not to attend the annual camping trip, not because she didn’t have a good time when she had gone every year since she had met Chimney but it was still hard to be around Sarah. It wasn’t her fault, it most definitely was not her fault but the sight of her growing bump was enough to cause a pulsating pain that resided in her stomach, born completely out of jealousy.

It had been two months since the miscarriage and the break had been a relief, not relying on a schedule, not obsessing over what she and Chimney did or did not eat, or drink. It felt nice to feel… free again, she supposes. Even if it’s still something she wants more than she ever thought possible.

Her excuses could have been better, her attempts to stay behind would have worked if her heart had been in it. But Milo and Sophia had begged, Chimney looked as though he was going to burst into tears the moment she had suggested she stay behind because she didn’t want to ruin anyone’s fun and eventually, she had relented. She was somewhat close to happy, life had gotten back to normal, although she still thought of what could have been. It was never easy to accept that her life could have been different if just one thing had changed.

Despite all of that, it still feels nice to be surrounded by so much laughter, watching the kids running around after each other as both Chimney and Simon concentrate on putting the tents up. “Do you think having all five kids in one tent is a good idea?” She’s pulled from her thoughts by the sound of a familiar voice, watching as Sarah sits on the log next to her, one hand on her stomach as Maddie does her best to avoid looking. It’s not fair on the other woman, she knows that, she should feel delighted in her pregnancy but the jealousy is something she can’t control. The fact that the woman next to her already had four beautiful children and now another on the way, it just doesn’t feel fair.

Maddie can’t stand the fact that she has become the kind of person she hates – bitter and resentful for something that wasn’t Sarah’s fault. It’s easy to force a smile, probably about as easy as it is for the other woman to see through that smile, when she finally looks at her. “Probably not but last year they just kept switching tents, so perhaps this will be easier.” Next year there will be six kids, and only one of them biologically hers and it shouldn’t cause the stabbing pain that feels as though a knife is being twisted in her chest right then but there she is, digging her nails into her thigh as subtly as she can.

“Hey, Maddie, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” Even she knows the two words have fallen from her lips too quickly, her cheeks flushing as she ducks her head. “I mean… when we did this camping trip last year, I had kind of imagined having a baby with me or at least being heavily pregnant this time around and now I’ve kind of accepted the reality that it’s probably not going to happen for me, for us.” She looks up to glance at her boyfriend, who is very much concentrating on hammering down one of the pegs as Milo glances over his shoulder. “It’s stupid, this should be enough for me. I feel—selfish for wanting more.”

“It’s not selfish, Maddie. Milo and Sophia know how much you love them, and you’re going to love them the same whether you have no more kids, or a bunch of kids. It’s okay to be sad, you know that, right? It’s okay to feel bitter because if the tables were turned, I’m sure I’d feel the same. I know how much you want it, how much both of you do and I don’t know anyone who deserves it more and if I could change something for you, then I would. It breaks my heart to see the two of you hurting.”

Maddie smiles, genuinely this time, tears falling as Sarah moves her hand to hers, giving it a tight squeeze as she does. “I think I want to try again but at the same time, I don’t think mentally I can take anymore heartbreak. I don’t know if—I’m just scared. I might never get pregnant, or I might and then what happened last time will happen again and… god, I can’t do that again, Sarah. I don’t think I could—I’m terrified and I know Chim is, too.”

“It’s okay to want something but be terrified at the same time. Have you spoken to Chimney?”

“Not yet. I think he wants to leave it a little longer and I’m sure it’s for the best but I’m not getting any younger and it’s already been so difficult. Do you think it’s my fault? That I want it too much?”

Any gap that had existed between them is quickly gone when Sarah slides closer to her and wraps an arm tightly around her, the other hand moving to brush the tears away. “None of this is your fault, it just happens and I know that’s a horrible explanation and I wish I could tell you the reasons why it happens but… whatever does happen, you are surrounded by so many people who love you and who will support you.”

The words cause a broken sob to fall from her throat, grateful when the other woman’s hand presses against her face and she hides in the crook of her neck, in the hopes none of the children or the two men will notice that she’s crying on what is meant to be a happy family vacation.

“It’s okay, Maddie. I love you.” The soft voice of the little girl she had fallen in love with from the moment she had met her comes from next to her, before two small arms are wrapping around her waist and she moves to rest her own arm around Sophia to pull her closer.

She only pulls her head from Sarah’s shoulder when a tiny voice can be heard in front of them, “Mommy?” forcing her eyes to open before the four year old quickly settles himself on her lap. Her lips press to his curly, dark hair as he tilts his head to look up at her with those big, brown eyes that so much remind her of her own. Maddie can’t bring herself to look anywhere other than him, and then Sophia, knowing that Milo had been with Chimney at the time, so if she had managed to pull his attention, then it was more than likely she had gotten her boyfriends too.

It’s the embarrassment and shame that finally forces her to glance up, smiling when she’s met with the grinning face of a teary-eyed Chimney, “You okay?”

“I’m okay.”

“Do you want to hammer these pegs in the ground?” He’s extending out the mallet to her with a sly smile on his face as he does, a waggle of his eyebrows quickly following when she smirks and rolls her eyes.

“Are you trying to get out of putting the tents up? Nice try.”

“I’ll help, daddy! Love you, momma.” A sloppy kiss is pressed half to her cheek, half on her jawline before Milo scrambles off her and tries to grab the wooden object from the man who quickly shakes his head.

“Was worth a try.” It’s with a wink, that somehow causes a blush to appear on her cheeks and a giggle she barely recognises as her own, that he runs off, Milo eagerly following behind him, always his dad’s shadow.

.

Maddie smiles as she turns on her side, looking at Chimney when he collapses a little dramatically on the ground next to her after zipping up their tent for the night. “I am exhausted.” He whispers, hand gently grazing up and down her arm as she bites her lip and looks at him. He was right about the camping trip being exactly what she needed, just getting away from the hustle and bustle of their usual life had been a relief. No work, no house to tidy, no fourth bedroom to walk past.

Instead, she was surrounded by more love and laughter than she had ever thought possible. Five kids, Sarah acting as a constant feeder, Simon with his guitar and Chimney with his obnoxiously awful singing along to said guitar, had been the exact relief she needed from normal life. She couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed so much or the last time she had gotten quite so many hugs from every child who had come into her life from the second she had met Chimney three years ago.

“Too exhausted for some adult fun?” She whispers back, keeping her voice as quiet as she can, although the giggle that falls from her lips can probably be heard beyond their tent when his eyes light up mischievously. It had been months since, and even longer since she had even suggested the idea without it being timetabled and pre-approved by her ovulation schedule.

She gets her answer when he’s suddenly kissing her, body slowly rolling onto hers, pulling back to look into her eyes as he hovers over her. “Are you sure?”

“Only if you promise to be quiet.”

“I am _not_ the problem.” The smirk on his face and the glint in his eyes is enough for her to know this is a challenge, and one she is more than willing to partake in, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to pull him down until their lips connect once more.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a difficult two years, but it's worth it in the end.

It’s ten weeks after the camping trip that Maddie finds herself nervously sitting next to her boyfriend in the doctors office as they had done so many months before. Her leg is shaking as she bites down on her lip, waiting for him to walk in with their test results. She doesn’t know why her heart feels as though it’s about to burst out of her chest but she’s more than completely terrified. But she had been barely thirty-seven when they had started this journey and now she was approaching her thirty-ninth birthday in just a few months. They had already been struggling and the doctor was taking too long.

Chimney’s hand moves to her leg in an attempt to stop it from bouncing before she places her hand over his and gives it a tight squeeze. She can feel how clammy her hand is against his but can also feel the light tremble he’s trying to hide, enough to force her to lean over and press her lips to his cheek. “There’s other ways to have a family.” She whispers, having managed to come to terms with the fact over the last few months that maybe it wasn’t for them.

She had seen their friends – Bobby and Athena, Hen and Karen – growing as a family with their foster children and biological children. There were other options, it was hard to come to terms with but whatever bad news the doctor is about to give them doesn’t mean it’s over. Chimney only gives her a tight smile, dragging his chair a little closer to hers until the arms are touching and he can uncomfortably wrap an arm around her shoulders. It’s as though he knows she’s close to bursting into tears before she even realises it herself, it’s only the sound of the door opening that prevents the tears from bubbling over.

“Okay, so, we have your test results.” Maddie looks up to see the file in his hands, gulping as she digs her nails a little too harshly into her poor boyfriends leg. The past few months had been relatively normal, they had been getting to know each other again without the pressure of trying to get pregnant. They had just been Maddie and Chimney, parents to Milo and Sophia and they were happy. She suddenly regrets ever having the idea to try again, not when they had been in such a good place. “I know you wanted to explore the idea of going back on the hormone treatment you were on a few months ago…”

She feels sick and then she feels stupid for even feeling that way in the first place because she was still lucky. She’d carried a beautiful, healthy little boy who was seven years old and amazing in every single way possible. They had a beautiful twelve year old daughter who filled them with pride every day. Was it inherently selfish to want more? She gulps down the lump in her throat, too consumed in her own thoughts until she feels Chimney gently tugging on her hand, “Maddie, did you hear what Dr Wilson said?”

Maddie can only shrug her shoulders, knowing it was time to admit defeat, they had other options to explore if she really wanted to bring a baby into the world with Chimney. It wasn’t over, even if it felt as though it was. They had Milo and Sophia to go home to, they had a fourth bedroom they would hopefully one day use even if not for someone that was biologically both of theirs. “Maddie.” She finally dares herself to look up into the eyes of her boyfriend, feeling her own tears about to fall until she sees a smile on his face and an excitement dancing in his eyes. His cheeks are flushed and both his hands press to either side of his face, his lips gently pressing to hers, “You’re pregnant, Maddie. We’re having a baby.”

It takes more than a minute for the shock to kick in, her eyes glancing towards the doctor who is grinning at them, clearly sharing in her boyfriends joy. “I-I’m pregnant? But we haven’t been—”

“I can’t explain it, sometimes… this happens. We never said it was impossible for you to get pregnant, just difficult. According to your blood test results, based on the levels of hCG, I’d estimate you’re quite far along into the first trimester. I’d like to send you downstairs for a scan but congratulations Miss Buckley, Mr Han, you are pregnant.”

Maddie bites down on her lip and looks at her boyfriend, trying not to get her hopes up, “I-I think I’d like to see for myself first… before I—” Although Chimney has already gone to the excitement place, she knows that he knows her well enough to know her head isn’t quite there yet. “I haven’t… I haven’t had any symptoms. My period has always been sporadic, especially since coming off the hormones, so I didn’t think much of it but I haven’t been sick or tired. The opposite really, we’ve done more these past few months than we have in a long time.”

“Not every pregnancy is the same and not every woman experiences it the same. Some women get sick, others don’t. Let’s get you down for that scan so you can see for yourself.” Dr Wilson had always been kind to them, his voice gentle and full of patience, watching the woman in front of him try to come to terms with something she had thought would never happen. At least, not without some sort of medical intervention. Slowly, she nods her head, taking a breath when she stands up. A scan. Seeing if it were true for herself, that would be the only thing that would ease her mind.

The time it takes to get from sitting in his office to lying in a bed, one hand holding onto Chimney’s a little too tightly as she keeps her eyes on the screen, seems to take forever. Her heart thumping rapidly, her chest feeling tight. It can’t be real, she wants it to be real more than anything but it simply—the sound of a beating heat sounds through the room and Maddie’s breath hitches, the tears finally falling when she stares at a baby who so perfectly looks like an actual baby on the screen.

She’s pregnant.

“It looks like Dr Wilson was right, you’re about twelve weeks along.”

She’s actually pregnant and she can’t stop staring at their beautiful baby as she sobs, smiling when Chimney’s lips press to her forehead and she can feel his own tears on her skin. “Baby is doing well, healthy, a good size.” And she’s made it past the first trimester which is weeks and weeks further along than she had with their last pregnancy. She feels relief at the thought she hadn’t known and been obsessing for the last few weeks, remembering her last period must have been barely two weeks before the camping trip because she had taken tampons just in case.

“I love you so much, Maddie.”

Finally, she turns her head to look at her boyfriend, the smile growing on her own face as she takes her hand to press against his cheek, “I love you too, more than I could ever put into words.”

Her eyes turn back to the screen just for one last glance at their baby as she laughs. She’s pregnant. They’re having a baby. It’s been two years but—it feels worth it.


	7. Chapter 7

Maddie had always thought that if she was lucky enough to get pregnant again, she would make the most of this one. With Milo, things had been different, her circumstances had been less than ideal and she had willed him to make it through the pregnancy unscathed. He had and it was nothing short of a miracle but this one—it was perfect. Chimney fussed around her even more so than usual, Sophia was an expert on all things pregnancy thanks to her mother, so came the endless information she already knew but pretended as though it was the very first time she had heard any of it.

Milo was a little harder to come around to the idea of sharing his world with another sibling. He had been adamant that they didn’t _need_ a little brother or sister because he liked it when it was just the three of them or the four of them on Sophia’s weeks with them. A little bit of bribery and a lot of involvement in the entire process had soon seen him come around to the idea, even if Maddie knew the jealousy would still be there at the beginning. He was eight and he was used to having both his parents undivided attention, especially as Sophia got older and was now very much an independent thirteen year old who didn’t need them quite as much as she had when Maddie had first met her over six years ago.

She didn’t like to admit it out loud but the pregnancy had been relatively easy. So many people had commented on how she was glowing from the second they had announced it and she had felt as though she was on top of the world. It had been over two years of trying and hoping and tears, arguments but they had made it and it was just as magical as she had hoped it would be.

As with the pregnancy, they decided to keep the sex a surprise, too. Maddie had always assumed she’d be too impatient and too much of an organisational freak to even think for a second that she could go an entire pregnancy without finding out if she was having a son or a daughter but it wasn’t important. They were having a baby together, they were finally adding to their already perfect family and that was enough, it was more than enough.

It still doesn’t feel quite so real until she’s sitting up in her hospital bed with a sleeping baby in her arms, grinning when she looks up at her boyfriend who’s still massaging his sore hand and still staring at their baby with tears making tracks down his face. Maddie doesn’t want to remember Milo’s birth as anything other than the day she got her beautiful baby boy but she still can’t help but remember how Doug hadn’t even been there. How he’d made his excuses and left her to do it alone; looking back, she wonders if that’s more of a blessing than she had thought it was at the time.

“You were so worth the wait, our little miracle.” Chimney shifts to sit next to her on the bed, one arm wrapping around her shoulders as his lips press against the side of her head when he speaks. All the two of them can do for that moment is stare down at the little miracle in her arms.

The exhaustion is almost too much but she wants to relish in every single second of this. Fifteen hours of labour had been excruciating and tiring but so completely and utterly worth it. Every sleepless night she’d had because baby was on her bladder or kicking a little too hard, every single sleepless night they were going to have… it was all so completely and utterly worth it. And she wasn’t alone this time, she had the man who she already knew was an amazing dad to Sophia and Milo. “Welcome to the world, Asher.” She finally whispers, holding her son up a little higher so she can press her lips against his head and just breathe him in. He really had lived up to his name, their blessing. It was crazy the amount of love she had felt for him the second he had been placed crying on her chest and she had wrapped both her arms around him as gently as she could, revelling in the joy of Chimney’s tears when he pressed far too many kisses to her sweaty, flushed face. There was nothing that could ever compare to the happiness she had felt in that second.

“Sophia isn’t going to be happy, she was so convinced you were having a girl.” His fingers move to brush up against the cheek of his son and Maddie finally tears her eyes away to press her lips against Chimney’s cheek as she beams at him.

“He’s amazing, he looks just like you.” Her fingers move to run through the black tuft of hair that sticks up uncontrollably. “I can’t believe he’s actually here. It feels as though we’ve waited a lifetime for him and now he’s just—I can’t stop looking at him, he has your nose.”

“He has your eyes.” Chimney is quick to respond, his own hand moving to gently settle on top of the babies stomach who squirms ever so slightly in his sleep as his firsts curl up and he snuggles just a little further into the warmth of his mother’s chest. “Judging by the amount of crying, too, he has your temperament.” The man teases, with a smirk on his face, nudging his nose into the crook of her neck before she shifts a little.

“I don’t want to sleep, I’m afraid if I wake up it’ll all be a dream.” Maddie is nervous to admit it out loud, biting down on her lip as she blushes because the pain she had felt was most definitely not in her head and that would have been far too graphic and accurate a dream but still… it all feels too good to be reality.

She misses the weight of the baby when Chimney gently lifts him from her arms, placing him on his chest as he slowly and carefully gets out of bed. “I promise you that when you wake up, little Asher will still be here and you’ll still look like the most gorgeous woman I have ever laid eyes on.” Her eyes roll, gently rolling onto her side so she can watch her two boys, wanting to enjoy the moment whilst they can before the chaos ensues.

“I love you both.” She announces as she watches him gently rocking the baby, the tears still dancing in his eyes still. “Thank you for—everything. But mostly for showing me what love is meant to feel like and showing Milo what a good man and a good dad looks like… and for giving me our little miracle.”

The smile on his face is bright but the tears fall and he nods his head, “I love you too, I should be the one thanking you.”

“You have… more than enough.” Her eyes start to betray her and fall to a close whilst she smiles, knowing it’s just one night in hospital before they can take their baby home to his brother and his sister and his excited Aunt’s and Uncles. Just one more night to enjoy it just the three of them before they share their joy with everyone who loves them.


	8. Chapter 8

They’re home for the first time as a family of five. It wasn’t their usual custody arrangement for Sophia but the teenager had absolutely insisted on being home for her new brother’s first few days at home and Maddie and Chimney were more than happy to have a full house for the first time.

Asher is only two days old by the time they walk through the door of their four-bedroom home and she finally feels as though everything is perfect. He’s here, their miracle baby has finally arrived and the excitement and anticipation for what’s to come is still bubbling inside of her. They’d been trying for him for over two years with countless disappointments, too many arguments and far too many tears. But there he was, fast asleep in her arms, with Chimney’s hand on her lower back as she walks slowly towards the couch.

“Is he just going to sleep all the time?” Milo lets out a huff, practically throwing himself on the couch next to Maddie the second she sits down, earning himself a stern look from Chimney and an eye roll from Sophia.

“Obviously not, doofus.” The thirteen-year-old is all too quick to quip back as she settles herself in on Maddie’s other side, making a point to do so gently as she looks at her eight-year-old, excitable brother.

Maddie watches as Chimney folds the blanket he’d picked up from the back of the couch, slowly kneeling in front of her as he drapes it over her legs. “Can we not argue today, guys?” He tries to maintain the sombre look for all of a second before he’s looking at Asher, carefully removing the hat from his head, clearly unable to resist the urge to press a kiss to the top of his head, until he moves to stand up a little more, pressing a kiss to Maddie’s nose as he does. She grins when he reaches out to press a gentle hand to a cheek of either of their children with a look she can only describe as pure pride.

“Bobby said he stocked the fridge, so I’ll pop something in the oven and hot chocolates all around?” He’s met only with eager nods, until both Milo and Sophia are back to looking down at the tiny baby, who snuggles into her just a little more, still fast asleep.

“Do you think he’ll wake up soon?” Her son asks, the second Chimney is out of ear shot, his brown eyes wide as he snuggles just a little further into his mother’s side and Maddie can’t help but smile, because she knows Milo will be the first one moaning when Asher is waking up at two or three in the morning. She moves to settle back against the couch, easily moving her newest son to settle in the crook of one arm whilst she moves her other hand through Milo’s tight curls, unable to believe he was ever as tiny as Asher was. The first two years of his life hadn’t been easy or happy but he couldn’t remember a single moment where Chimney wasn’t his dad. He’d been a passive part of their lives for over six and a half years and whilst he knows he and Chimney don’t share DNA, he simply… doesn’t care. Not now. Not at eight and hopefully not ever because she’ll have to tell him the truth of his biological father one day.

Maddie takes a breath, “I think he’ll wake up when he’s ready and even then, just for some food. He’s still new to the world, sweet boy, he has a lot of resting up and growing to do before he’ll be able to anything other than sleep, eat and poop.” That earns a giggle from both of the kids as Milo dives himself beneath her arm and Sophia presses a little closer to her other side, to rest her head on her shoulder. Maddie tilts her head to press a kiss to the teenagers forehead, hardly able to believe that the little girl she had met over six years ago was now a fully grown, beyond gorgeous teenager who rolled her eyes and slammed her door sometimes, yet still wanted to snuggle for family movie night and had been the one to insist on matching Christmas pyjamas the Christmas before.

“He’s so, so cute. I hope he has curly hair like Milo and your eyes and mine and dad’s nose.” Maddie stares down at the baby, still unable to believe she and Chimney had made someone quite so perfect. Although, looking at both their kids already, it wasn’t _that_ surprising, she supposed. “Maybe when he wakes up, I can hold him?”

“Maybe when he wakes up you can change his diaper, too.” She teases, feeling as Asher starts to squirm in her arms, a tell-tale sign he’s about to open those brown eyes at any second and start filling the room with his hungry cries. Sophia only shrugs, seemingly unphased at the thought, considering Asher most definitely was not the first baby that had ever been introduced to her family considering her mother had another four children after her. Including a brand-new baby girl only three months older than Asher.

As if on cue, those eyes open, already filled with tears before the crying begins and Maddie bursts out laughing when Milo practically shoots himself back to the other end of the couch and dramatically throws his hands over his ears whilst Sophia rolls her eyes at him again (her favourite thing to do). “What’s wrong with him?!”

“He’s hungry, stu—” Maddie shoots Sophia a look, “… Milo. He’s hungry, Milo.”

Before she can even shout for Chimney, he’s there with a muslin cloth and gentle lips against her forehead whilst he unbuttons the top of her shirt before she can move her hand. Sarah had never kept him out of Sophia’s life, he’d been there every single step of the way but he had felt awkward because they were never a couple, they were just… extremely good friends who had gotten far too drunk one night. The past few days had been a dream with him doing everything he possibly could and she knows she has him around for the next two months because he’d taken his paternity and accumulated annual leave.

Milo isn’t too good at hiding his disgust at the way his brother latches onto her breast just a few seconds later, whilst Sophia just snuggles into Maddie’s side a little more and runs her fingers through the babies dark hair as he guzzles. So, Chimney just gives her a small smirk before he’s holding out a hand for their eldest son, “Why don’t you come help me get this salad ready for dinner?”

The speed at which Milo takes his hand with an eager nod of his head makes both Maddie and Sophia scoff, watching the two boys walk away until Maddie is letting out a small sigh of content when she looks back down at Asher. “Is it everything you thought it would be?” Sophia whispers, her chin resting on Maddie’s shoulder as she looks at her, their bond as strong as it had ever been after over six years of being in each other’s lives.

“It really is.” Maddie finds herself whispering back, turning her head to nudge her nose into the girls forehead, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head as she does. Milo was… amazing and being his mom was just the most wonderful thing she had ever done but this was her second chance to find out what doing this with a supportive partner was like. How much easier the sleepless nights would be with Chimney by her side, how the tears would at least mostly be on Asher’s side and not her own this time around. “I love you, Sophia.”

“Love you too, Momma Maddie.”


End file.
